Feedback needed: 11-day Italy itinerary with teens (Florence, Rome, Pisa, Sperlonga)

Welcome to the forum!

How many NIGHTs do you actually have on the ground in Italy?

Have you priced multi city/open jaw flights?
Fly in to Florence, out of Rome or Naples
Not booked as 2 one way tickets-usually under Advanced Search

Take into account the cost and time of extra travel to backtrack

You will need to be in your departure city night before flight-so maybe put Rome last if you fly out of there-that also splits up the 2 busy locations

You don’t say when in March but note Easter is March 28
Not sure how weather will be for a beach stay

Rome RT might be most economical-in that case head to Florence by train on arrival. Then to Sperlonga ending in Rome

Several lovely sandy beaches in Tuscany --- no need to go so far south.

Teenagers would appreciate Ostia Antica. Look for the ancient Roman group toilets.

More flights into and out of Rome, so more choices, but Florence's airport is 15 minutes from central Florence and is nice and small. In either case, you want to be in the city the night before your flight home.

The natural history museum in Florence has some anatomical models and other somewhat creepy things that a young person might enjoy.

In Pisa a few steps from the tower, the Camposanto has an interesting history including in WWII and contains a huge fresco called The Triumph of Death by 14th-century artist Buonamico Buffalmacco --- it's both frightening and amusing.

Plan by nights rather than days ---- thinking in terms of days makes you think you have more time than you actually do. Also be aware of a common difficulty of what to do between the time one hotel or apartment wants you to check out and the next one wants you to check in. Sometimes solved by traveling between the locations mid-day and by eating a long lunch.

As usual, I think Christine is bang on with her observations.

I would take a long hard look at your beach plans. Sperlonga in March, according to a couple of weather sites, has average daytime highs of only 58-64°F, with water temps of only 55-60 - way too cold for swimming. Plus it is one of the rainier months of the year and cloudy more than half of the month.

I notice that your itinerary overlaps each departure/arrival day. When planning itineraries it is usually more accurate and efficient to specify the nights in each place. Currently you have alotted very little time for Florence, given that your arrival day will have the usual jet lag impairment. And note that most of the major museums in Florence are closed on Mondays.

If you keep Sperlonga on your itinerary, it makes sense logistically to fly in and out of Rome. Thus your itinerary would be:

1-4 nights in Florence. Arrive Rome and train immediately to Florence. Day trip to Pisa

5-8 nights in Sperlonga (consider reducing by 1 day and give to Rome)

9-11 nights in Rome. Fly home from Rome.

Agree that you should forget about the beach. The Mediterranean gets cold in the winter and it will not have warmed up by March. Water temperatures no higher than 60 even down in Sicily. Tell the boys you’ll take them on another vacation some other time to a good beach place. With the extra days, how about Venice? It’s truly unique. So then you’d have the classic “big 3” chosen by so many first time visitors to Italy (assuming that’s true of the kids even if you’ve been before) for good reason. Ideally fly into Venice and back from Rome. Or alternatively, south of Rome to the Naples area, offering Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, and the home of pizza, among other things.

This is all incredibly helpful! My husband is really hoping for some coastal relaxation and wants to see Italy's iconic rocky cliffside villages. Given your feedback, I agree we should nix a longer stay on the coast. Is there a specific spot like that you would recommend as a manageable day trip from either Florence or Rome?

Also, to ensure we truly enjoy the trip and don't feel rushed, would you recommend adding Venice to the itinerary, or would it be better to extend our stay in Florence to allow for day trips to places like Lucca and Siena?

It wouldn't be hard to go to a coastal town such as Anzio from Rome for the day, and I think that would be fun, but that wouldn't be the picturesque village overlooking the sea kind of place; those are generally found south of Naples, or along the Ligurian coast such as Cinque Terre and further north, or alternatively in the Italian lakes. None of those are within good daytrip range of Florence or Rome IMO. If you went to Venice you could take a trip out to one of Venice's outlying islands, but again, this would be flat rather than scenic cliffs. I don't know your family, but I would suspect that young teenagers might like Venice with its unique canals and boats rather than more of Florence and its daytrips such as Lucca and Siena, unless they are more precocious than usual in their appreciation of Renaissance art and architecture. I think Pisa is a great idea, sure the Leaning Tower is a bit of a cliche but it is well worth seeing once, the surrounding buildings (cathedral and baptistry) are amazing, and it's a very pleasant city otherwise.

Agree March may not make for a pleasant coastal stay, but it could be great for hiking or biking, are the kids outdoorsy? I’d look for something in Tuscany that you can do between Rome and Florence. And if you get some sunny days, you could still check out the coast. Are you open to car rental?
Maybe something like biking along the via Francigena?

Hello, Florence has a great small airport so easy to fly into. Florence has so many sights to see including museums, restaurants and churches with famous artists sculptures and paintings. As mentioned the timing for beach weather is off as cold at that time of year.

You could look at something closer to Pisa for a coastal stay. Portovenere comes to mind as it is a pretty village. Not a beach town though, but you are by the Mediterranean. I would look into how much you are saving by flying in and out of the same city. The train costs to get 4 people back to Florence might eat up some of that, and it would be nice to not have to back track.

I think the pacing looks pretty reasonable, especially with a few days in Sperlonga at the end to slow things down. With teenagers, it's usually better to balance sightseeing days with some downtime rather than trying to pack too much into the itinerary.

For your Pisa/Lucca day, I'd actually recommend this one-day tour with Tuscan lunch: https://toursoftuscany.it/tours/pisa-and-lucca-one-day-tour-with-lunch/. It takes care of the transportation and planning, and you get to see both cities without worrying about train schedules or logistics. Lucca is also a great stop for families, walking or biking along the city walls is something many teens end up enjoying more than expected.

In Rome, I'd definitely book the Colosseum in advance. Villa Borghese is a great choice too because it gives everyone a chance to relax between sightseeing. If your boys like history, the Pantheon is also worth adding to the list.

As for flights, if the prices are similar, I'd probably choose Rome for both arrival and departure. It saves the long train journey back to Florence at the end of the trip and makes the final day less stressful.

One thing I'd keep in mind is that March weather can be a bit unpredictable, so I'd view Sperlonga as a chance to enjoy the coast and the town itself rather than planning around guaranteed beach weather.